About Aid Watch
The Aid Watch blog is a project of New York University's Development Research Institute (DRI). This blog is principally written by William Easterly, author of "The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics" and "The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good," and Professor of Economics at NYU. It is co-written by Laura Freschi and by occasional guest bloggers. Our work is based on the idea that more aid will reach the poor the more people are watching aid.
"Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking." - H.L. Mencken
Recent Comments
- Rukmini on Aid Watch blog ends; New work on development begins : This has been a valuable resource for me and I’m sorry to see it...
- Jesse on From Hell to Prosperity: I would like to see this graph with a comparative one which shows the number of people in each religion...
- Ellie on Aid Watch blog ends; New work on development begins : Sad to see you go, but I certainly respect the decision. Hope it is...
- Vivek Nemana on From Hell to Prosperity: Jeff, Well, the billionaire effect might explain a disproportionately high mean income, but...
- M on Aid Watch blog ends; New work on development begins : I agree that Bill and Laura should think about how they can get their message...
- Mr. Econotarian on Are Lax US Gun Laws Spilling Violence into Mexico? : The paper says: “DHS data gives the number of illegal...
Archives
Bill Easterly tweets
- RT @tkb: @meighanstone @bill_easterly @viewfromthecave Thanks from @worldbankdata team! http://t.co/aD4zp3Px & http://t.co/6APTLA7D ... about 5 hours ago from Twittelator ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @meighanstone: @bill_easterly @WorldBank @viewfromthecave you should be singing praises of @tkb and his team then (upstart World Bank ... about 6 hours ago from Twittelator ReplyRetweetFavorite
- Praise the @WorldBank! (for data visualization) http://t.co/ri7CvwdZ HT @viewfromthecave about 6 hours ago from Twittelator ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @lustrefound: New idea for Sandel: Writers as public intellectuals replaced by economists. RIP Carlos Fuentes. http://t.co/Zkpq1Shj h ... about 8 hours ago from Twittelator ReplyRetweetFavorite
Aid Watch tweets
- RT @viewfromthecave Healthy Dose top story: UNDP to Africa, End Hunger to Ensure Growth http://t.co/6b1tghMg about 7 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @bill_easterly Leonardo DiCaprio's coffee has a remarkable effect on development. We're just a bit fuzzy on how. http://t.co/ITkKtwVG 08:08:48 PM May 15, 2012 from TweetDeck ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @NatalieNYT Study points to the complexities of giving & measuring the impact of charity http://t.co/zjZCCxth 06:25:03 PM May 15, 2012 from TweetDeck ReplyRetweetFavorite
- “Poverty: The audacity of hope” @TheEconomist describes an RCT by Esther Duflo http://t.co/ahFAljgc 05:23:35 PM May 15, 2012 from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Links for Chile earthquake
@chrissiy: links for Chile mapping response including Google tools, @Ushahidi http://bit.ly/b80EvW
@saundra_s Latest Post: Chile may not need or want foreign assistance http://bit.ly/cLct9C
@AidNews Chile earthquake: Emergency funds released http://dlvr.it/3mL5
@AidNews PHOTOS: Massive quake hits Chile http://dlvr.it/3lwR
@dfid_uk #Chile #earthquake : A #DFID assessment team is on standby. We remain ready to…
Area Man’s Starbucks Purchase Finally Ends African AIDS Epidemic
by Jeff Raderstrong at the blog Change Charity:
After deciding to add a bag of (Starbucks) RED brand coffee on top of his vente mocha latte order, area man Bill West completed the final piece of the puzzle to end the AIDS epidemic in Africa…
“This is a great day for humanity,” said Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where Starbucks made the $1
…
Posted in Badvocacy and celebs, Global health, Satire and parodies Tagged AIDS, Bono, Jeff Raderstrong 19 Comments
Jeff Sachs, welcome to Twitter!
As of 11 am today (2/26), Jeff Sachs has started posting on Twitter as @jeffdsachs. Here is some of the early traffic in which yours truly has a tiny stake (I have omitted who did the T for privacy):
(anon): Just noticed that @bill_easterly is following @jeffdsachs but not vice versa / Hilarious
@bill_easterly: This hurts :>) RT Just noticed that @bill_easterly is following @jeffdsachs but not vice…
The Economist Debate on Finance for Good or Evil: Round 2 Turns Up Heat
The debate now going on at the Economist is providing one of the most exciting and insightful looks at What We Learned about Finance from the Crash. The debate is very relevant for the role of finance in development (which Levine has devoted his career to studying). Debate is now on round 2 and you can vote for your favorite. Stiglitz has a small lead at this point; my vote still goes to Levine.
Joe…
Posted in Big ideas, Economics principles Tagged Joseph Stiglitz, Ross Levine, The Economist 5 Comments
Chronicle of a death foretold
When the article Madagascar: Textile Industry Unravels came across our desks yesterday, we were saddened but not surprised. That’s because people on the ground have been predicting this outcome (and Aid Watch has been stubbornly blogging about it over and over). Multiple critics have protested ever since the US government, hoping to force President Andry Rajoelina’s questionable government to hold elections, first threatened to remove preferential trading rights for…
Paying for school on $2 a day
When James Tooley first discovered low-cost private schools for the poor in urban slums and rural areas in India, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and China, aid agency officials and local government administrators did not receive the news warmly.
Most flat out denied that such schools existed. Even if they do exist, said the experts, they can’t possibly be any good. School owners that run for-profit schools in shantytowns and poor villages are just exploiting poor communities.…
Posted in Academic research, Books and book reviews Tagged accountability, education, World Bank 26 Comments
Is Finance Evil? Vote Now at the Great Online Debate at Economist.com
UPDATE 2/24 9:45am: since the post below was written, Stiglitz has seen vote swing his way. Cast your own vote early and often!
Paul Volcker said after the crisis: “I wish that somebody would give me some shred of neutral evidence about the relationship between financial innovation recently and the growth of the economy.”
There is a longstanding historical tradition of suspicion and hostility towards finance. It goes all the way back to the medieval…
Is writing about Africa different if the writer is African?
A Post From @kiwanja
UPDATE 2/24 3:30 PM. There have been a lot of great comments and discussion back and forth.
Analyzing We are the World for Haiti as a Music Critic and Aid Critic
Even aid critics have their sentimental side. I confess I was genuinely moved watching this video, which has been viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube. The video is very inspiring and well done. It made me let myself go and be carried along by the idealism and hope.
Unfortunately, my kids would like to point out that I also get sentimental listening to Scorpions’ “There’s No One Like You” , so I may not be the best…
Posted in Badvocacy and celebs, Satire and parodies Tagged earthquakes, Haiti, hubris, Video 10 Comments
Invading Canada to debate aid
Bill Easterly is speaking in Toronto tomorrow.
When: Tuesday February 23, 2010, 4pm-6pm
Where: University of Toronto, Hoskin Avenue, Seeley Hall, Trinity College
(He will be largely offline for the next two days while taking part in this peaceful invasion.)